Buffalo teachers get free cosmetic surgery

  Botox, liposuction, lip plumpers. 
  Almost all cosmetic surgery is paid by the taxpayers for teachers in Buffalo. 
  There's a story over at The Atlantic covering the machinations of why this is so. Once upon a time, teachers really weren't paid well; they continued to negotiate benefits until they received the free cosmetic surgery one. 
  Then when finances went south, there was no incentive or reason to dump the benefit, even though everyone agreed it was ridiculous. Under New York state law, there are rules and regulations for negotiating which include that once a contract has expired, workers continue to work under the old contract until a new one is negotiated, explained here:

"The urgency of negotiating a new contract isn't really there," said Amber Dixon, interim-superintendant for Buffalo's schools. "You get to keep your benefits. You get to keep your cosmetic rider. You get to keep your 2.5% step increase. It makes getting back to the table difficult."  

Collective bargaining only works if both sides have an incentive to deal. That's not conservatism. It's realism. And New York's dysfunctional system is Exhibit A. It's created a trap for cities by requiring them to keep paying out indefinitely on old contracts negotiated in flusher times. Without the ability to work out new terms, local governments are left to resort to layoffs. 

Such was the case in Buffalo, where at one point the school board offered to avoid 100 layoffs if the union suspended the cosmetic surgery rider for a year. As Dixon explained to me, the union declined. It only wanted to deal with the rider during a full contract negotiation. 

  This is why governments need the ability to determine what is healthiest for schools, for cities and for states. Unions, which are admittedly necessary and part of a healthy work environment, need to be reined in.